What we cover: “If you think the grass is greener somewhere else, it may be time to water your lawn.” —Gina Mollicone-Long

Gina Mollicone-Long knows a thing or two about greatness. After all, when you’re co-founder of an organization called The Greatness Group, it just sort of comes with the territory.

Gina’s not only someone committed to seeking out greatness in her own life, however. Not even close.

This is a woman who has a degree in engineering, and who segued into a career in marketing with some of the biggest names in branding excellence — like Proctor and Gamble and Molsons Breweries, for example. Despite the fact that her corporate career was on fire, she knew she was headed in a different, more authentic-for-her direction. She always felt the pull to greatness. To be around greatness. And to help people, as she says: “reveal greatness.”

She admits she fell into engineering in the late 1980s because she knew she’d need a “real job” and there was no talk back then about being a professional Peak Performance coach – the handle she uses today to lasso the passion she brings working with everyone from CEOs and Olympians to everyday human beings simply looking for someone to, as she puts it, polish the silver. Because she believes we’re all silver. Sometimes we just need the extra assistance of someone to give us a polish.

Talking with Gina is to talk with a powerhouse. She makes no bones about the fact that she feels too many people today play small. We talk about the techniques she uses to weed the garden of negative belief systems in her clients – techniques like Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP), for example. She sort of pulls back the curtain on that for us. She reminds us that failure is feedback – and nothing more. She identifies that too many of us think instead that failure is the ending… a message from the universe that it’s not meant to be. That’s not the case according to Gina.

Today, she is a sought-after speaker globally. And she’s the internationally best selling author of two books: The Secret of Successful Failing and the follow up The Secret of Successful Failing.

FUN FACT: Gina and I met in our former lives working on a branding campaign – I was a copywriter working at an agency in Vancouver and she was on the board of Big Sisters, which is the organization that partners mentor-women with girls in need of a role model. You can check out that TV spot on my portfolio if you’re so inclined. Fun stuff indeed. It’s a timeless and important message, even 18 years later.

What we cover: “In this moment, we are safe.” —Dr. Russ Kennedy Today’s guest is Dr Russ Kennedy – someone I have known since 2004, when I launched my brief stint into the stand up comedy world. Russ was a fellow comic, and I got to know him then, and I always really liked him. […]

What we cover: “I took the road less travelled by, and that has made all the difference.” —Robert Frost Today’s guest is Stacey Shand. If there is a woman more easy to have a Girl Crush on that Stacey Shand, I have yet to meet her. Stacey is an ultra-extreme endurance athlete and adventurer. She […]

What we cover: “Take the past for what it is. And then, focus on moving forward.” —Kevin Reynolds Today’s guest is Kevin Reynolds. He is, of course, the Canadian figure skating super star who won silver at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, as part of the mixed team event. According to the official […]

&amp;lt;span data-mce-type=”bookmark” style=”display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;” class=”mce_SELRES_start”&amp;gt;﻿&amp;lt;/span&amp;gt; Tea of choice: Vancouver’s Steam Tea House. What we cover: “Addiction is the body’s way of telling you that you’re not listening to your soul.” —Sherry Strong Today’s guest is Sherry Strong – and strong she is. She is a woman who, after 35-years […]

Tea supplier: Vancouver’s Steam Tea House In the interest of full disclosure, I have been ridiculously spread thin – as we all can get from time to time – and completely run down, wrapping up deadlines before I shut the office down until the new year. I have been up late into the night with […]

<span data-mce-type=”bookmark” style=”display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;” class=”mce_SELRES_start”>﻿</span> Tea of choice: Vancouver’s Steam Tea House What we cover: “You have to lose sight of the shore to discover new lands.” (paraphrased) —André Gide For those of you who listen to the show on a regular basis, it’s not news that I am […]

What we cover: “For temporary results, commit to temporary changes. For permanent results, commit to permanent ones.” —Karin Fortin Jackson, 3-time Ironman finisher, who lost 120 pounds In 18 months of conversations with people I admire, this might rank as my most favourite chat yet. And I say that with the full admission that I […]

Tea of choice: Vancouver’s Steam Tea House. What we cover: “If you want something badly enough, you don’t make sacrifices. You make choices.” —Rhian Wilkinson Today’s Guest Titan chat is a wee bit of a deviation from the norm – and I am so glad about it. Today, I have a guest co-host in the […]

Tea of choice: We opted for Vega shakes instead! What we cover: “Boom! Gratitude.” —Mike Shaw This week’s Guest Titan – Mike Shaw — is beyond inspiring. I have thought about our chat daily since it happened. He is just that impressive. I don’t want to give too much away, his story is incredible, and […]

What we cover: Reinvention. I have been calling myself a writer since I was 5 years old. I’ve had a fun and memorable career as an ad copywriter in agencies in Vancouver, as an editor, as a features writer for various magazines. I’ve written my one-woman show and am currently working on the sequel. I […]

Tea of choice: Vancouver’s Steam Tea House. This is a mini-episode. Just a wee one. It’s sort of Part Two in my chat with the unbelievably well-respected professional Ironman triathlete, Jeff Symonds Asia Pacific Ironman Champion, the year before last. But it’s also a stand-alone. So I’m not really thinking of it as a continuation […]

Tea of choice: Vancouver’s Steam Tea House. What we cover: “A diamond is a lump of coal that did well under pressure.” —Henry Kissinger This week’s Guest Titan is flipping amazing. I have loved him from afar for many years now – not like as a stalker, dressed as a plant, hiding in a corner. […]

Tea of choice: Vancouver’s Steam Tea House. What we cover: “A fall doesn’t have to be perceived as a fall. It can be a trip. Or a stumble.” —Teryl Rothery This week’s Guest Titan is flipping amazing. I first met Teryl Rothery, about 18 years ago – I’ll tell you how I know it was […]

Tea of choice: Vancouver’s Steam Tea House. What we cover: “Where will we be 5 years from today?” Welcome to Season #2 of Tea with a Titan: Conversations Steeped in Greatness. This is the series where I get to sit down and have tea with entrepreneurs, athletes, entertainers, artists, philanthropists, thought-leaders, difference makers, — those […]

Guest Titan: Pamela Martin, Broadcasting icon/philanthropist. Tea of choice: Vancouver’s Steam Tea House. What we cover: “Do not go where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path, and leave a trail.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson A few weeks ago, I was speaking on a panel for the organization called Dress for Success. […]

Guest Titan: Wendy Williams-Watt, Activist/Artist/Designer. Tea of choice: Vancouver’s Steam Tea House. What we cover: “What the world needs now is love, sweet love.” —Burt Bacharach & Hal David About three weeks ago, my four-year-old, JouJou had her first ballet recital with North Vancouver’s stellar organization Pink Petal Ballet, designed less to teach young girls […]

Guest Titan: Mary-Jo Dionne, Walking through the discomfort. Tea of choice: Vancouver’s Steam Tea House. What we cover: “We can’t go over it, we can’t go under it. Oh no, we have to go through it.” —Michael Rosen JouJou very recently has taken to riding her bike up and down the carpeted hallways of our […]

Guest Titan: Ashley Wiles, Brooks Inspiring Coach of the Year. Tea of choice: Vancouver’s Steam Tea House. What we cover: “What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” —Napolean Hill This is a conversation about running. But not in the way we typically equate talks about running. It’s not about encouraging […]

Guest Titan: Elle Wild, Award-winning novelist. Tea of choice: Vancouver’s Steam Tea House. What we cover: “Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” —Samuel Beckett I have known Elle Wild for the better part of the last two decades. She and I were ad copy writers together in Vancouver. And […]

Guest Titan: Matt Hill, Run for One Planet. Tea of choice: Vancouver’s Steam Tea House. What we cover: “Just take one small step — every day.” —Matt Hill There are some people on this amazing planet who you just know when you meet them are the ones who are on a mission to make it […]

Guest Titan: Gary Robbins, Ultra-runner: The Barkley Marathons. Tea of choice: Vancouver’s Steam Tea House. What we cover: “You can do this. You will do this.” —Gary Robbins Every once in a while you have a conversation with a person — a person so exceptional, that’s the only word for it — that the stories […]

Guest Titan: Jennifer Heil, Three-time Olympic skier. Tea of choice: Vancouver’s Steam Tea House. What we cover: “Everything is perspective.” —Jennifer Heil A few months ago, my friend Susanne Biro, Guest Titan Episode #6, put together a dinner party of six people who didn’t necessarily know one another, but who she all thought would hit […]

Your host: Mary-Jo Dionne, Just say “yes!” Tea of choice: Vancouver’s Steam Tea House. What we cover: “It is not our job to ask ‘how?’ It is our job to say ‘yes!’” —anonymous A few years ago, a friend of mine made me a mixed CD. One of the songs was Snow Patrol’s “Just Say […]

&lt;span data-mce-type=”bookmark” style=”display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;” class=”mce_SELRES_start”&gt;﻿&lt;/span&gt; Guest Titan: Shaun Frankson, Entrepreneur, The Plastic Bank. Tea of choice: Vancouver’s Steam Tea House What we cover: To say that guest titan Shaun Frankson and his business partner David Katz are thought-leaders would likely be one of the bigger understatements of our time. […]

Guest Titan: Jacqueline Way, Philanthropist, Founder of 365give. Tea of choice: Steam Tea’s Earl Grey Lavender What we cover: “If we all create a daily habit of giving? Holy Hell, we’ll change the world.” —Jacqueline Way On her son Nick’s 3rd birthday, Jacqueline Way decided to consciously turn her back on the idea of wrapping […]

Guest Titan: Jody Vance, TV and Radio Broadcaster. Tea of choice: Steam Tea’s Earl Grey Lavender What we cover: “No matter what happens, I have me.” —Jody Vance I have loved Jody Vance for the better part of a decade. She was instrumental in introducing me to my first regular role in an on-air segment […]

Guest Titan: Brent Johnson, football star (and all-round great guy). Tea of choice: Steam Tea’s Steam Tea Nuts and Spice What we cover: “You cannot synthetically produce passion.” —Brent Johnson Every once in a while, you have a conversation with someone who is legitimately hilarious. Legitimately insightful. And legitimately fascinating. And you want to bottle […]

Guest Titan: Brent Johnson, football star (and all-round great guy). Tea of choice: Steam Tea’s Steam Tea Nuts and Spice What we cover: “You cannot synthetically produce passion.” —Brent Johnson Every once in a while, you have a conversation with someone who is legitimately hilarious. Legitimately insightful. And legitimately fascinating. And you want to bottle […]

Guest Titan: Brent Johnson, football star (and all-round great guy). Tea of choice: Steam Tea’s Steam Tea Nuts and Spice What we cover: “You cannot synthetically produce passion.” —Brent Johnson Every once in a while, you have a conversation with someone who is legitimately hilarious. Legitimately insightful. And legitimately fascinating. And you want to bottle […]

Guest Titan: Betty Jean McHugh, 89-year-old world record marathon runner. Tea of choice: Steam Tea What we cover: “Don’t let age get in your way.” —Betty Jean McHugh Betty Jean McHugh was born in 1927 in small-town Canada, never knowing that after a childhood that took place in the depression, teen years that took place […]

Guest Titan: Krista Guloien, Olympic rower and author. Tea of choice: Steam Tea’s Organic Earl Grey Lavender What we cover: In the seven months that this series has been my Labour of Love — my Love Child — we’ve been fortunate to chat with a number of those fine human specimens who fall under the […]

Guest Titan: Michelle Tremblay, 2nd degree black belt and empowerment advocate. Tea of choice: Steam Tea’s Liquid Sunshine What we cover: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am […]

Guest Titan: Natasha Wodak, Olympic runner. Tea of choice: Steam Tea’s Organic Earl Grey Lavender What we cover: For those of us who watched the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and sat glued to our television sets for the Opening Ceremonies of the 31st Olympiad, there was a feeling — just like there is at every […]

Guest Titan: Roy McBeth, elite cyclist and triathlete and organ donor advocate. Tea of choice: Steam Tea’s Cherry Kyoto Rose Green Tea What we cover: The one thing we all have in common is that no one is immune. We will all go through periods of adversity. That fact is the great equalizer. What sets […]

Guest Titan: Liz Rose, 25-yr-old climber who summited Mount Everest. Tea of choice: Steam Tea’s Liquid sunshine What we cover: On May 23rd, 2016, Liz Rose became the 17th Canadian woman to climb Mount Everest, the 2nd youngest Canadian overall to summit, and she’s on track to becoming the youngest Canadian to climb all Seven […]

Guest Titan: Jenn Dawkins, firefighter, philanthropist, mentor, ultra-athlete, dog-mom. Tea of choice: Steam Tea’s Liquid sunshine What we cover: What’s it like to transform from a non-athletic background as a serious punk rocker with multi-coloured hair in the 1980s to a trailblazing visionary in her adult years? What does that look like, what does that […]

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Tea with a Titan is a series during which Mary-Jo speaks with those people who have one thing in common: The ability to provide a perspective shift, despite the obstacles.